1. Technical Field
The field of the currently claimed embodiments of this invention relates to methods and systems for non-invasively determining left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP) and/or pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP).
2. Discussion of Related Art
Successful heart failure management, both in and out of the hospital, depends on intimate knowledge and tracking of cardiac pressures that inform the fluid status of patients. The most important of these pressures is left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP). Both physicians and surgeons rely heavily on the cardiac chamber pressures, especially that in the left ventricle, to assess the fluid volume status of patients and heart function pre and post procedures in the in-hospital setting, outpatient clinics or when patients are at their home.
However, current methodologies of assessing left ventricular end diastolic pressure are either invasive in nature with associated complications or non-suitability for specific patient types, or they allow only measurement of surrogate parameters in lieu of LVEDP. Examples of invasive methods include invasive catheterization procedures that are inaccessible for regular use or are contraindicated for a large subset of the heart failure population. Other non-invasive methods of quantifying LVEDP do so by obtaining surrogate pressures. Thus there is a compelling need for a means of measuring LVEDP accurately, safely and noninvasively.